Home-delivered meals: setting up and appropriation processes among the older adults losing autonomy.

Introduction. The onset of disabilities may lead older adults to delegate some daily activities to a caregiver. While a large majority of older people look forward to staying at home as long as possible, the loss of autonomy may constitute a disruptive element in a person's life. Objective. Our objective was to explore the setting-up and the appropriation processes of meals-on-wheels service among older adults. Method. Semi-directive interviews were conducted with 30 beneficiaries of meals-on-wheels service (21 women; 70-97 years old) . Result. The thematic analysis of the interviews showed that the implementation of this service is often linked to a loss of functional capacity which limits older adults' ability to do their food shopping. Two main situations were observed: for some participants, the implementation of this service is one step among others within in the gradual implementation of various care services, while for others the implementation of a meals-on-wheels...